work and careers
Women’s Leadership: Moral Obligation or Good Business Decision?
Marino cited a Japanese business principle “kaizen”—which directly translates as “improvement,”—saying that kaizen is actually quite a bit more than just improving a work process. It also means agitating one’s company in ways that it needs to be agitated. This includes agitating the organization around issues of gender bias. What kaizen is really about, he says, is “waking up every day trying to make things better.”
5 or 6 Coping Strategies for When You Don’t Feel Heard
Ever have a really interesting idea at work or in the world, share it, and notice that you don’t get much of a response? Either because people just don’t seem excited about it or say they don’t understand it? And then a dude, maybe someone you know or don’t know, maybe someone who came up with the same idea, or someone who is intentionally trying to support you, shares this same idea and everyone responds enthusiastically? Yeah, me too. Weird, right?!
If Men Don’t See You, Are You Really There?
“How many of you think you have to be seen by men before you can be seen?”
Nilofer Merchant asked this question at a fantastic conversation/salon I attended in New York earlier this year led by Merchant and Ellen McGirt. The topic was women, work, and visibility—and the concept of “onlyness”—our unique contribution as women and as individuals, in the workplace and in the world.
Follow Your Real Work Inside and Outside of Institutions
Given the state of the world and our institutions, what work (paid or unpaid) do we really want to be doing? As individuals and women leaders, what work are we uniquely well-suited to do? What contribution can we make and do we want to make? I’m reminded of a line from Margaret Wheatley, “The leaders we need are already here.”
Authentic Leadership, Yes, But for What Purpose?
What does it mean to be real with ourselves and others in our everyday lives and at work? What does it mean to lead from an authentic place and why is even important?
Work Isn’t Everything, But It Touches Everything Else
Everywhere I look women are redefining what work is, how it functions, and how work can support other areas of our lives rather than detract from them or cause harm. The same is true for money.
Jobs come through relationships now, so let’s improve the quality of our relationships
It isn’t that career ladders don’t exist anymore or aren’t useful. We’re just beginning to pay attention to how well those ladders are made, who’s making them and why, and whether or not we even need a ladder to get where we’re going.
Leading Our Own Lives First: Ageless Lessons from Mary Catherine Bateson’s Composing A Life
Real leadership means making good choices for ourselves, big or small, on a daily basis and over time about how we live in the world. Choices that we can believe in, that feel authentic and true for us as women and creative people; choices that often go against the grain and feel difficult; and choices that as much as possible, sustain us individually as we seek to do good work in the world.
Ride the Wave Into the New Creative Economy
There are two ways to look toward the future of work: What might the world need from us in terms of the companies we build or work we do? And to what degree are we prepared to navigate industries and work environments that are changing fast whether we like it or not?
A Generation Inclined to Share
What might other, more meaningful kinds of sharing look like? On one level, it may mean doing something with all of that good information we come across on a daily/near-daily basis and feel compelled to share with others. It may mean attempting to make sense of all of those ideas, reflecting on them in community with other live human beings (or even just one over coffee) or moving those ideas forward one way or another by offering our own unique insights in our work or art.
